Dear WOC-UK supporters,
Chairman Newsletter Feb 2026
It’s been an exciting start to this year already with some key projects taking place.
The first to mention is our annual conference happening on Saturday 6th of June at the BBraun Aesculap academy near Sheffield. The theme is “Stronger Together” which captures the essence of the collaborative work we do. We have strengthened many partnerships over the last 2 years and now are proud to be affiliated with a number of subspeciality organisations. These include BOFAS, BSSH, BSCOS, BOOS and BHS all of which have an official global surgery programme, which we will be hearing about at the conference. We also celebrate our relationship with other surgical specialities who have their own wonderful global work happening, many of whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting through the Global Surgical Frontiers meetings in the London Royal College and at the COSECSA exams. As always, we will also be showcasing the tremendous work that the trainees are doing through the BOTA session at the conference. Please don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to network with this impressive line-up of key players in the LMIC development world.
This is the link to register:
(also through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/woc-uk-annual-conference-2026-tickets-1249355970339?aff=oddtdtcreator )
At number two, and arguably should have been number one, we are thrilled to announce the first “Principles of orthopaedic care in low- and middle-income environments course” on Friday the 5th of June at the same venue. The course is aimed at consultants, trainees and allied health professionals planning on an outreach visit for the first time or to consolidate their experience ahead of a return visit. The course will be run in the afternoon from 13:30 to 17:00 and will cover key topics in getting prepared for undertaking an orthopaedic mission in a LMIC. The topics range from pre-visit logistics and checklists to in-country specifics of educational and interventional/ surgical work. To our knowledge there has not been a dedicated orthopaedic course like this before. The faculty are leaders in the field who collectively have an outstanding wealth of knowledge and experience in running an impactful mission. Registration is through the same link as the conference. A 50% discount is offered for those who book both events together. There is also an early bird discount until the end of February.
In mid-January, we had our planning meeting for the year ahead and have identified a range of projects which we will be supporting this year. We allocated 3 BOTA-WOCUK travel grants and will continue to support examiners attending the COSECSA (College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa) and WACS (West African College of Surgeons) exams. We are hoping to continue the tradition of inviting a guest speaker from a LMIC country to the BOA conference again this year. We are also keen to support specific projects in various countries such as the hip camps in Zambia. We have 2 eponymous fellowships in honour of the late Geoffrey Walker for those planning on a medium to long term mission abroad (3 months min). We are also willing to sponsor a Future Leaders Programme candidate if they have a LMIC specific project in mind.
I will be handing over chairmanship of WOC-UK in June to Alwyn Abraham, a well-established LMIC virtuoso who has been instrumental in keeping the organisation going for the last 10 years at least, serving first as treasurer and then vice-chair. Alwyn will no doubt bring exciting new ideas to WOC-UK which I will wholeheartedly support, and I am very confident to say that you, as members, will be in safe hands.
See you all in June hopefully!
Ashtin Doorgakant
Chairman World Orthopaedic Concern UK
